My favorite story from "Empire of the Summer Moon" involved a trick the Apache played, when they moved near to a Spanish mission and said they wanted to become Christians under the Spanish monarchy. The Spanish military was suspicious, but the priests were excited, having had little success in missionary work up to that point. They built a settlement for the Apache, gave them gifts, and preached the Holy Word. Imagine their surprise when they woke up to find the Apache all gone.<p>...because they knew, as the Spanish didn't, that the new settlement was on Comanche land. By moving in, the Apache knew they were brewing a conflict between the Spanish and the Comanche. It turned out that the Comanche slaughtered all the Spanish, but if it had turned out the other way, since the Apache were frequently at war with the Comanche, that would have been a win for them also.<p>Which is a lesson in two things:
1) borders are important
2) borders change a lot<p>For example, around the time of the War of 1812 the Kickapoo were in southern Illinois, near where I grew up. This map shows them in Oklahoma, where they no doubt were/are at different times. The map should have a slider bar, for the year.<p>Actually, every map of Europe should have a slider bar for the year, also.